Lost racing pigeon Pedro gets helicopter ride home from oil rig

LONDON (Reuters) - A lost racing pigeon which crash-landed on an oil rig in the North Sea after getting lost was airlifted to safety in mainland Scotland in a helicopter, an animal charity said on Monday.

The exhausted and thin bird, named Pedro by workers on the rig, landed on the Clyde platform 160 miles from land last Monday. He was looked after and fed by workers there before being flown back in a supply helicopter to Aberdeen in east Scotland and taken to a wildlife rescue center.

"It was actually my boyfriend Kevin Mitchell who found Pedro," said Kirsty McQuade, a rescue officer with the Scottish Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals.

"He crash-landed on deck and Kevin managed to catch him and take him inside."